There was another packed schedule of women’s action on Day 3 at the French Open, with the rest of the first rounds being completed. 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and two-time Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka were among the top players to compete for the first time in Paris. It was a day that saw some big names in the women’s game get knocked out. This article recaps who looked good and bad, before picking the best match of the day. We at LWOT also recap the men’s day 3 action in a separate article.
French Open Day 3 Women’s Recap
Who Looked Good
Aryna Sabalenka made an impressive start to her French Open campaign. She dominated from start to finish in her 6-1 6-2 victory against Erika Andreeva. The two-time Grand Slam champion was clinical on break points; taking five out of six opportunities. Losing her serve once was the only frustration she experienced.
Elena Rybakina also progressed comfortably on Day 3. The Kazakhstani crashed 36 winners and broke six times during her 6-2 6-3 triumph against Greet Minnen. She will hope to improve her normally formidable serve in later rounds, with Rybakina being broken three times over the course of the match.
Madison Keys continued her very strong form with a 6-3 6-2 win over Renata Zarazua. The recent Internationaux de Strasbourg champion was even more dominant in return games than Sabalenka and Rybakina were. She broke seven times, being particularly aggressive on her opponent’s second-serve.
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Qinwen Zheng ended Alize Cornet’s career after defeating the Frenchwoman 6-2 6-1. The Australian Open runner-up did well to stay focused in front of a crowd that loudly supported the local player in her final outing. Cornet was very emotional after the match and should be very proud of her excellent career.
Arantxa Rus knocked out the three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-3. The French Open is the only Grand Slam Kerber has not won but the German played well throughout this match. She was simply outplayed by the excellent Rus, who combined terrific defense with heavy forehands to claim victory.
Who Looked Bad
Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens lost in the first round of the French Open for the first time since her debut in 2011. Unfortunately, the 31-year-old had a very bad day. Although her opponent Yulia Putintseva played well and hit many excellent drop shots, Stephens made far too many unforced errors to be competitive. The final score was 6-1 6-2 to Putintseva.
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Nadia Podoroska will also be disappointed with her performance. She did have a tough draw against two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka. However, clay-court specialist Podoroska would have expected to do much better than the 1-6 0-6 loss she suffered. The match lasted exactly one hour.
Zeynep Sonmez will also feel she could have been more competitive in her contest with Emma Navarro. She was knocked 2-6 0-6 in just 50 minutes. Navarro is a very good player on clay and has a chance of making a major breakthrough at the French Open. But Sonmez never gave herself a chance on Court 6.
Match Of The Day
There were a few strong contenders for the best women’s match on Day 3 at the French Open. Anna Blinkova dramatically defeated the 28th seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 3-6 7-6 after a match filled with powerful hitting. Paula Badosa’s 4-6 7-5 6-4 win against Katie Boulter was also a terrific match.
Recent Morocco Open champion Peyton Stearns and Lucija Ciric Bagaric’s titanic battle is the winner of match of the day. The American won the final three games of the opening set to take it 6-3. Stearns then appeared to be on the verge of progressing comfortably when she was 5-4 40-15 up in the second set. But Bagaric saved those two match points, before fending off three more in a dramatic tiebreak, which the Croatian managed to win 10-8.
After being unable to take those five match points, Stearns found herself just a game away from exiting the French Open at 5-3 down in the deciding set. Yet, the 22-year-old somehow managed to claw her way back and eventually progressed after winning the deciding set tiebreak 10-6. There was also a humorous moment at 7-4 in the tiebreak, when Stearns thought the match was over. She forgot that a minimum of 10 points are needed to win final-set tiebreaks.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports